FBI's Season 7 Finale Cliffhanger Has Had Me Worried About Alana De La Garza's Future As Isobel. Now A Cast Shakeup Is On The Way

FBI is on the way back to CBS for Season 8 in the fall of the 2025 TV schedule as the last show in the franchise standing after FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted were cancelled. With Tom Ellis' CIA delayed to midseason, the network simply won't have crime-fighting action paired with FBI as was the case for years. Of course, Season 7 ended on a high-stakes cliffhanger with none other than Isobel (Alana De La Garza) collapsing, raising the question of whether she'd be back in Season 8.

As it turns out, a cast shakeup is happening no matter what Isobel's fate will be this fall, and the news isn't what I expected after assuming I'd need to be crossing my fingers about Alana De La Garza.

Emily Alabi Is Out

Scola's (John Boyd) process of getting a new partner to replace Tiff (Katherine Renee Kane) lasted for most of Season 7, with the presumptive new member of the team getting cut as a series regular before she even debuted. FBI finally seemed to find the right fit with the debut of Magnum P.I.'s Emily Alabi as Agent Dani Rhodes. I liked her right off the bat, and she didn't hesitate to go rogue with Scola, Maggie (Missy Peregrym), OA (Zeeko Zaki), Jubal (Jeremy Sisto) and Co. in the spring finale.

According to Deadline over summer hiatus ahead of Season 8, however, Alabi won't be promoted to series regular as I expected for the next batch of episodes. Instead, her return in the fall will be to close out Dani's story, which sounds an awful lot like how FBI brought Katherine Renee Kane back for the Season 7 premiere for a swan song. No details are available at the time of writing about Alabi's presumed exit, and the actress has not yet reacted to the news.

And while I'm bummed to be losing Dani when she seemed like a solid fit for Scola as a partner, I can't be mad about who FBI found as the next agent stepping into the cast. A Law & Order: SVU vet from elsewhere in Dick Wolf's expansive TV universe is coming on board. If we had to lose Emily Alabi, this actress could be a solid fit.

Law & Order: SVU's Juliana Aidén Martinez Is In

Law & Order: SVU added Juliana Aidén Martinez as a new series regular for Season 26 last year, but her tenure as Detective Silva didn't last long. Her exit was announced (alongside fellow series regular Octavio Pisano as Detective Velasco) ahead of the finale back in May, with Season 26 ending without establishing an exit for Silva. Season 27 will pick up without the two detectives this fall.

Martinez is staying in the Dick Wolf TV universe, but fans shouldn't count on seeing her as Silva again. According to TVLine, the actress will be playing a new character on FBI even though the hit CBS drama and SVU technically share a TV universe. She won't be the first star to change roles within the same small screen world; both Jeremy Sisto and Alana De La Garza were Law & Order stars before taking on new characters on FBI, and Jesse Lee Soffer did the same when he jumped from Chicago P.D. to FBI: International.

So, a cast shakeup is confirmed for Season 8 of FBI, even if the future is still uncertain for Alana De La Garza as Isobel Castille. I'm going to be optimistic that Isobel just needed some rest and recovery over a summer hiatus time jump to be ready for action in Season 8 in the fall, but only time will tell. For now, you can always revisit the seven seasons so far streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.